The original landlords of the large expanse of land where Transcorp Hilton Hotel, the Federal Secretariat and the Millennium Park are situated have demanded payment for their land, 23 years after they were forcefully acquired. Mr. Chawandana Kaura, an octogenarian, stated this at the weekend when he led his kinsmen to a public hearing on Compensation, Resettlement and Integration in the FCT, organised by Original Inhabitants Association of Abuja (OIDA) with the support of the Alliance for Credible Elections (ACE).
This comes as the original inhabitants expressed concern over the current efforts by the Federal Capital Territory Administration to relocate 8000 Abuja indigenes from nine indigenous communities of the FCT in a land swap policy of the FCTA and plans by the Federal Government to acquire indigenous people’s lands for a centennial city.
Speaking at a public hearing, Mr. Chawandana Kaura said that they were paid N20 and provided with Julius Berger trucks to facilitate their movement to what he considers a refugee camp in Kubwa.
Mr. Kaura, said for 23 years, they have waited in vain for a just compensation by government even though government currently sells a plot in the area for N1-2 billion.
The public hearing was aimed at harvesting concerns of indigenous people and their communities on the implementation of compensation, resettlement and integration in the FCT for Abuja indigenes.
In 1990, the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida, decided to relocate the original inhabitants of about 33 hectares of land from their ancestral land in order to make room for the construction of Transcorp Hilton Hotel, the Federal Secretariat and later Abuja Millennium Park.
Some of the major concerns raised at the public hearing included the continued denial, disregard and disrespect to the rights, dignity, feelings, and culture of FCT original inhabitants by successive governments in Nigeria; Unlawful and wrongful acquisition of lands in the entire 8000 square kilometers of land known as Abuja by the Federal Government from the creation of the Federal Capital Territory till date.
They also decried the failure of successive governments in Nigeria since 1976 to pay fair, adequate and sufficient compensation for forcefully acquired lands in the Federal Capital Territory; efforts by the current FCT government to relocate nine indigenous communities to resettlement camps without proper consultation with the affected communities, reasonable infrastructural cum logistic arrangement and without consideration for desires by some of the affected communities for integration in their current places of original abode.
The original inhabitants therefore resolved to seek redress against the misrepresentation that the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, was a virgin land.
“To increase sensitisation and community awareness on the challenges facing original inhabitants of the Federal Capital Territory.
“To continue to pursue peaceful but robust engagement with government on issues of grievances of FCT Original Inhabitants especially with regards to perennial failures on the part of government on proper compensation, resettlement and integration of Abuja indigenes.”
The hearing was attended by different indigenous communities in the 13 Chiefdoms of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT); Garki, Gwagwa Rubochi, Jiwa, Abaji, Bwari, Kwali, Gwagwalada, Karu, Karshi, Kuje, Yaba, and Zuba.
At the public hearing, a panel of eminent indigenes and concerned Nigerians, including Pastor Jeji Danladi (President, OIDA) Barr. Musa Babapanya, Dr. Abdu Husseini (Country Director, Action Aid Nigeria) and Mr. Emma Ezeazu (Secretary General, Alliance for Credible Elections) received public presentations of complaints from different communities and indigenes from the 13 Chiefdoms of the FCT.
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